Car-starter



vto move the same.

UNrTED STATES PATENT Faroe...

DOMINGO NGROTTO,JR., AND WILLIAM B. FLEMING, OF NEW ORLEANS,

' LOUISIANA.

CAR-STARTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part 0f Letters Patent No. 258,941, dated June 6,1882.y

Application filed March 21, 1882; (No model.)

To all whom tt may concern:

Be it known that we, DOMINGO NEGROTTO,

J r., and WILLIAM B. FLEMING, residents of the Y city of New Orleans,parish of Orleans, and State of Louisiana, have invented a certain newand useful Improvement in Gar-Starters; and we do hereby declare thefollowing to be afull, clear, and correct description of the same,reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of thisspecification.

This invention relates to a device in which the power of thedraft-animal is applied to give a direct impulse upon the wheels, so asto start or keep the latter rolling.

On the drawings, Figuresl and 2 are longitudinal sections of a carprovided with our improvement. Fig.- 3 is a transverse section thereof,and Fig. 4a view of the forward portion of the arrangement. Figs. 5 and6 are enlarged views of certain parts of same.

The letter A represents the body of a car,

AB B' the axles, and O C the wheels thereof.

Our device may be connected with one or more axles; and it consists of aratchet-wheel, D, having side bosses or projections upon which areloosely fitted a pair of levers, e e',

these connected by means of bolts f, having shoulders f', to prevent thelevers from pressing against the sides ofthe ratchet-wheel. Between theaforesaid levers is suspended, on a pin, g, a pawl, H, the free end ofwhich engages the ratchet-wheel whenever it is required The pawl isautomatically raised by a pin, t, (see Fig. 2,) which projects from thepin g toward the center of the axle1 passing between guides lr, formedon one side of the levers, and having its end resting in a slot, formedin the edge of an annular ring or slide, l, that is tted so as to turnon the sleeve of a lever, M; The end of the latter rests in a socket, n,whereby itis held in a given position. The ring or slide lmay be made ofsteel, and to prevent its turning -too freely on its bearing a portionmay be cut out, as in cylinder and pump packing-rings, and shown indotted lines at w', Fig. 6. A certain amount of play is left in theguide k' and slot m, in order that the levers e e may have a limitedmovement before imparting the same to the slide l. The latter isdragged, as it were,

in contact with the ratchet-wheel until theicar `is fairly started,which action throws the pawl out of gear, and at the same time moves theslide forward until the end of its slot comes in contact with the rearof the pin t'. 'lhus it is held until the strain upon the levers e isrelinquished, when the weight o, through itsconnecting-rope p p', willdraw the latter backward, which movement will reverse the bearings onthe pin i, turn the annular ring backward, and throw the pawl into gearagain.

The remaining part of our arrangement consists of a draw-head, R, whichis secured by a king-bolt, s, to the forward part ot'l the car. Thefront portion of this draw-head is provided with two straps, t t', inwhich bearings are formed for a single-tree, the latter consisting of around rod, U, which from its bearings is tapered and curved, as shown inFig. 4t.u The outer ends of the aforesaid rod are provided with eyes o ofor the reception of the tracechains. At the center of the rod U, and between the bearings thereof, is a pin or stud, w, which operates in arecess made in the upper rea'r portion of a short lever, y, the outerend of which is connected by the rope or chain p p' with the levers ec', as shown. The lever y being loosely fitted to the rod U, permits theends ofthe saine to swing back under the car in the event of theircoming in contact with any obstruction.

- From the vabove description it will bc seen that the car is movedforward by the pull upon the traces, causing the rod U to turn in itsbearings, and through its stud to force the small lever y forwardfthesaid movement being communicated through the rope p, levers e c', andpawl H to the ratchet-wheel D; and also that the pawl is thrown in andout ot' gear through the weight o, rope p', pin t', and ring or slide l.The rope p p' is of sufficientlength to be wound one or more timesaround the circle formed by the connecting-boltsj' of the levers e e',so as to provide for the pawl traveling the whole or any part of thecircle.

Having described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a car-starter, a ratchet-wheel, D, hav

ing side bosses on which are fitted levers e e', connected by means ofbolts f, around which the rope p p is wound, as described, and for thepurpose set forth.

2. In a car-starter, the annular ring or slide l, fitted on a stationarybearing, and provided with aslot, in which operates the end ot'a pin, i,said piu being connected with the pawl H, and acting in guides 7c ofthelever c to throw the pawl in or out of gear, as described, and for thepurpose set forth.

3. In combination with a. car-starter composed of a. ratchet-wheel, D,operating-levers DOMING() NEGROTTO, JR. WILLIAM BURNSIDE FLEMING.

In presence of J. C. HUBBELL, l. J. FINNEY.

